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Friday, 18 April 2014

Friday's Full Post

in answer to Grace's question re the prints: they are lino cuts, they are placed onto the fabric/paper or the other way round whatever is more practical

what remains after dyeing

above:tie dye result, the overblown ranuculus flowers were tied with elastic bands and dipped into last week's cow parsley-sorrel dye, there's also a copper pipe in the vat, maybe that has had some influence, there are tinges of blue (not to be seen in pic, I have no idea why) where the fabric was bunched together;

below: clamp-resist from the old avocado/onion peel dye, I really like the washer circles and will make a lot more of these; here the clamps themselves also influence the results, as can be clearly seen in bottom left corner, where a square has appeared

on the left the avocado/onion peel dye with still two more bits of fabric developing....on the right the cow parsley/sorrel with the submerged copper pipe...bits of mold floating

the garden is very green

geranium phaeum:I am very excited about this particular plant as I have discovered it's petals produce a beautiful BLUE. It is one of the most prolific plants in our garden, introduced by the previous owner and apparently it feels so much at home here it has spread all over the garden and continues to do so; from now on you will be seeing me on my knees collecting the petals as they drop, I will try to dry and crush them and make a HomeGrownBlueDye! It was Jude's idea of experimental dyeing with whatever happened to be in the garden on a daily basis that made me try the geranium, see her post Scraps of Spring

the very pale green comes from the plant stems and leaves

spring has sprung, I see fields of dye, my thoughts wander elsewhere and I realise that at this precise moment in time somewhere someone is suffering, all of a sudden the beauty seems obscene, my observing it is meaningless and I ask self what is the point?

these thoughts never last....mine is a fickle nature, and thus my wayward mind lets itself be very easily distracted; back home the printing continues: 'tis what I do

I for one am very glad that 'this is what you do'!I love the way you combine all these techniques. Keep on!When the world seems full of horror, then, I think, it is more important than ever to try and fill it with beauty! And what you make, is full of beauty Saskia. X

Oh I have received 2 posts in one go what a delight for the eyes. Beautiful work, interesting dyeing experiments, I must try the geranium in grows in my garden but not that prolifically. But cow parsley grows by the bucketful in all the hedgerows, not yet its to early but I will wait with anticipation. Thank you for sharing I am learning so much.Your delight in life keeps me happy we can only do what we do.

About Me

why a blog

People kept asking me: what is it you paint? Instead of trying to describe my work I decided to start this blog; this is also why I started with posting the digital images I had of older paintings.

And I guess I also hoped the extra focus and discipline needed to maintain a blog, might give me new insight(s) into my work, my aspirations and possibly even my life.......if that's not too much to ask, thank you very much